Real Men Feel: Ep. 97, Men and Workplace Bullying with Dawn Westmoreland

This week on Real Men Feel, Andy Grant is joined by Author, coach and speaker, Dawn Westmoreland, visits Real Men Feel’s Andy Grant to share how she’s been helping men stand up to bullying. Did you realize that nearly as many men as women are harassed and discriminated against in the workplace?

Dawn Westmoreland is an HR consultant, speaker, author, and podcaster focused on bullying and discrimination. She uses her 27 years’ experience in HR to help attorneys, mental health professional’s, spiritual/religious leaders, employers and employees with solutions to bullying and discrimination. Her podcast, The Empowered Whistleblower, offers guidance and education on healing, recovery, discrimination matters, and bullying.

“We’ve conditioned men not to feel. That is crap” ~Dawn Westmoreland

Dawn shares her experience of workplace bullying and the horrible toll it took on her. In 2012, Dawn reported her former government agency to the Office of Special Counsel and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for prohibited personnel practices and retaliation. As a result, her managers and co-workers turned on her, and she was subjected to two years of horrific workplace bullying and discrimination.

These years wreaked havoc on Dawn’s mental and physical health, but she persevered. Holding her workplace bullies accountable, Dawn settled with her employer outside of court and discovered her soul’s purpose.

About halfway into this show, we were bullied. A number of anonymous men joined the show, repeatedly unmuted themselves and shared their screens of porn. Most of that was edited out because these clowns didn’t even have decent porn. So thank you internet bullies for such great synchronicity.

Topics Covered Include:

Is workplace bullying and discrimination really an issue for men?

What types of discrimination do men face?

Is it different than women?

What got you to focus on bullying?

What is the difference between bullying and discrimination?

Did you witness or experience bullying in the military?

How can men stand up to bullying?

The importance of documentation.

What about fear of retaliation?

Do you have any advice for employers and organization who want to offer an environment that is free of bullying and discrimination?

I understand that men and women can both be targets of bullying, are they both as likely to be the bully?